Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Santa Clara Bronco Invitational
'Dogs XC runs strong at Santa Clara Bronco Invite
10/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
By: Travis Blanshan
tblanshan@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
Men's 8K Results 
Sunnyvale, Calif. - The Fresno State men's and women's cross country teams competed in their final regular season meet of the season on Saturday at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational hosted at Baylands Regional Park.
The men got the racing started with a sixth-place finish as a team scoring 149 points as the Bulldogs finished in front of regionally-ranked teams UC Santa Barbara, Texas Tech and New Mexico State.
The 'Dogs were led for the third time this year by junior Cooper Gill as he finished 18th overall finishing with his second-fastest career 8K time of 24:23.3. Matt Kwiatkowski followed Gill with a 35th-place showing clocking a time of 24:37.7. Joel Gonzalez (39th - 24:41.6) followed four seconds later and the scoring was closed out by Nathan Esparza (25:01.3) and Efren Reyes (25:04.1) in 57th and 60th, respectively.
Clay Celum and Robert Leija also competed for the Bulldogs finishing 92nd and 115th, respectively.
Gill, Kwiatkowski and Gonzalez's time all rank in the top 25 in program history in the 8K as Gill checks in 11th, Kwiatkowski in 22nd and Gonzalez in 25th.
San Jose State was the top team finisher scoring 61 points as the Spartans top three finishers all placed in the top five. Loyola Marymount (108 points), California (114), St. Mary's (115) and Santa Clara (141) rounded out the top five. The 'Dogs were followed by UC Santa Barbara, who came in 13th-ranked in the West regional, with 161 points, Texas Tech (163), 14th in the Mountain region, and New Mexico State (202), 15th in the Mountain region. Sacramento State (228), UT- San Antonio (233), San Diego (297) and Grand Canyon (327) closed out the team competition.
On the women's side, only four women ran in the meet so the Bulldogs did not qualify to score as a team as five runners are needed to qualify.
Cristal Rivera was the 'Dogs top finisher in the 6K clocking a season-best time of 21:51.0 to finish 66th overall. Rivera's time also ranks 21st-fastest in the 6K in program history as she took off more than 30 seconds from her previous season best.
Meagan Paracholski raced to a career-best time of 22:05.4 to come in 92nd. Brittany Laygo (126th - 22:31.0) and Jennifer Viramontes (155th - 23:13.7) were the other two Bulldog runners as Viramontes also ran a season-best 6K time.
In total, nine Bulldogs ran season-best times on Saturday.
The Bulldogs return to action at the Mountain West Championships on Friday, Oct. 30 hosted by Nevada at Montreux Golf Club in Reno, Nev. The men's 8K will start at 10 a.m. followed by the women's 6K at 10:45 a.m.
Men's 8K Results
Cooper Gill - 18th - 24:23.3
Matt Kwiatkowski - 35th - 24:37.7
Joel Gonzalez - 39th - 24:41.6
Nathan Esparza - 57th - 25:01.3
Efren Reyes - 60th - 25:04.1
Clay Celum - 92nd 25:33.6
Robert Leija - 115th - 25:55.6
Women's 6K Results
Cristal Rivera - 66th - 21:51.0
Meagan Paracholski - 92nd - 22:05.4
Brittany Laygo - 126th - 22:31.0
Jennifer Viramontes - 155th - 23:13.7
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Players Mentioned
